Long(er) term coffee solution

[DrHenley]

Coffee and air conditioning are the two things I really don't want to give up in the SHTF.

Roasted coffee goes rancid fairly quickly. Instant coffee? Well just shoot me and get it over with, LOL.

But what about green coffee beans? Shelf life is much much longer than roasted coffee, and if properly packaged it can be years. Vacuum packed and frozen it is indefinite.

So I started buying green coffee beans and roasting them myself. Pleasant surprise: green coffee beans are cheaper than roasted coffee beans - MUCH CHEAPER.

I roast them in a cast iron skillet on slightly higher than medium heat. I take them out at the beginning of the "second crack." In the video below you can clearly hear the "first crack" which in that case developed slowly due to the beans having various sizes. The first crack occurs when the internal temperature reaches 385 °F. Although a few beans cracked prematurely, the first crack really begins in earnest at 0:46 and ends at about the end of the video. The second crack (@435 °F) developed much more quickly, but was a few minutes after the end of the video.

When the second crack began, I dumped the beans into a steel colander and took them outside and tossed them to cool.

Now after drinking freshly roasted coffee, I can't drink stale coffee anymore, LOL.

 

[lonewolf]

I drink instant coffee and we don't need air conditioning in the mild south west of England.
once the coffee runs out, i'll drink my apple juice, when that's gone i'll drink water.
some "coffee" can be made from chickory if one can be bothered.

 

[BillMasen]

I have many kilos of coffee in sealed foil packs to keep me going, enough for my own needs for a few years and to use as currency if needed. Bought it in bulk when it was cheap and on offer at a bulk catering supply outlet.

 

[lonewolf]

coffee "real" coffee is an addiction same as any drug, if someone just HAS to have their coffee in a post SHTF world then they have got a problem.

 

[VenomJockey]

Gotta have that coffee!!! Thanks for the heads up on green beans and roasting them as needed!

 

[lonewolf]

Gotta have that coffee!!!

that's exactly what I mean!!

 

[DrHenley]

coffee "real" coffee is an addiction same as any drug, if someone just HAS to have their coffee in a post SHTF world then they have got a problem.

So why do you drink coffee bigpaul?

 

[lonewolf]

So why do you drink coffee bigpaul?

Because I don't like Tea!!, I drink instant coffee, its cheap, but I actually prefer drinking chocolate it has more taste, but I can easily live without either of them in a SHTF world.

 

[DrHenley]

Because I don't like Tea!!, I drink instant coffee, its cheap, but I actually prefer drinking chocolate it has more taste, but I can easily live without either of them in a SHTF world.

I drink coffee because I enjoy it bigpaul. That's all the justification I need.

 

[jontte]

did a check on green beans here, 19 euros a kg..

 

[DrHenley]

I just bought single origin, direct trade, small farm Kenya AA beans (pretty much the crème de la crème of coffee beans) for $8.32 per pound on Amazon. That's 16,32 €/kg, or £13,88/kg for y'all across the pond.

You can find Tanzanian green coffee beans for around $5/lb.

 

[Maverick]

If it ever comes down to losing my coffee I'll just have to rely on my apple trees and make apple cider, we already grow clove in the green house. I hope it never comes to losing my coffee availability.

 

[jontte]

if it goes that far it's dandelion roots as a substitute..

 

[DrHenley]

I may just have to go live with the Kikuyus on Mt Kenya.

 

[Proud Prepper]

I have never had a problem with coffee quality using freeze dried roaeted coffee in mylar bags. I've drank it after 3 years old, no problems.

 

[DrHenley]

I normally buy several pounds of roasted whole bean coffee at a time and freeze it in the deep freeze, but it does lose some flavor when you freeze it, and the flavor gradually degrades over time. I would imagine the same is true of freeze dried. It still tastes OK, it just doesn't have the full flavor after freezing.

But now hopefully I can freeze the green coffee, and still get the full flavor by roasting small batches at a time. Even without refrigeration the green beans will keep a long time. If you vacuum pack them and use an oxygen absorber, maybe indefinitely.

 

[lonewolf]

coffee or whatever one's addiction is all have one problem, what do you do is a post collapse world when ALL the supplies have been used up? everything is finite, when its all gone, its all gone.

 

[Proud Prepper]

coffee or whatever one's addiction is all have one problem, what do you do is a post collapse world when ALL the supplies have been used up? everything is finite, when its all gone, its all gone.

Coffee is grown, why would it be all gone? Scarse or limited, but not finite. Besides one could stockpile enough to last there lifetime.

 

[lonewolf]

Coffee is grown, why would it be all gone? Scarse or limited, but not finite. Besides one could stockpile enough to last there lifetime.

oh dear, oh dear, there's that "everything will be alright" assumption again.
I think my definition of WTSHTF might be different to a lot of folk.

 

[Proud Prepper]

oh dear, oh dear, there's that "everything will be alright" assumption again.
I think my definition of WTSHTF might be different to a lot of folk.

Your assumption of what I was assuming is wrong again. Your thinking is a bit different from most others BigPaul, lol but that's what makes you unique.

 

[lonewolf]

Your assumption of what I was assuming is wrong again. Your thinking is a bit different from most others BigPaul, lol but that's what makes you unique.

not quite unique my friend, rare maybe, I could name maybe 2 or 3 Brits who think like I do but its not many.

 

[DrHenley]

Bigpaul, if you read what I said in the OP, I said that it was something I "really don't want to give up."

Why not just leave it at that instead of making into some sort of horrible addiction, which it's not. Yes I could live without it. I just prefer not to. Why can't you understand that?

Is there nothing that you would prefer not to do without? Does that make it an addiction?

 

[lonewolf]

Bigpaul, if you read what I said in the OP, I said that it was something I "really don't want to give up."

Why not just leave it at that instead of making into some sort of horrible addiction, which it's not. Yes I could live without it. I just prefer not to. Why can't you understand that?

you may be able to live without it, but to many people caffeine is an addiction just as bad as any drug and it only takes 1 cup per day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine_dependence
if there is something I cant make, cant grow, and cant forage it post collapse., then I will live without it.
coffee is very low on my list of priorities.

 

[DrHenley]

Definition of addiction
1: a compulsive, chronic, physiological or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, behavior, or activity having harmful physical, psychological, or social effects and typically causing well-defined symptoms (such as anxiety, irritability, tremors, or nausea) upon withdrawal or abstinence : the state of being addicted​

There are zero harmful physical, psychological or social effects caused by me drinking one cup of coffee in the morning. And I have no withdrawal symptoms if I don't drink it, other than being a little grouchy at missing the pleasure.

And I daresay I've never know anyone who had harmful physical, psychological or social effects from drinking coffee.

 

[lonewolf]

I put the link, read it or ignore it, its up to you, I don't much care which.

 

[DrHenley]

I put the link, read it or ignore it, its up to you, I don't much care which.

I read it, did you?

"Mild physical dependence can result from excessive caffeine intake. Caffeine addiction, or a pathological and compulsive form of use, has not been documented in humans."​

 

[lonewolf]

DEPENDENCE:
"people who take in a minimum of 100mg of caffeine-the amount in about one cup-can acquire a physical dependence" unquote.

 

[DrHenley]

"Caffeine addiction, or a pathological and compulsive form of use, has not been documented in humans."

Give it up bigpaul, you undercut your own "caffeine is an addiction" argument with that link, and I'm not going to let you move the goalposts by changing the word "addiction" to "dependence."

I certainly believe excessive caffeine use can cause a mild physical dependence, my wife has a physical dependence. It's not an addiction.

 

[lonewolf]

wait until the coffee supplies run out then we'll see if its an addiction or not, its certainly an obsession.

 

[GaRp58]

Stop drinking coffee for 2 weeks and then try to keep a straight face when you drink the first cup again. After your body has cleaned out the last of the coffein, it will react violently to the poisoning. Only 65 mg of coffein per kilo of bodyweight is LETHAL DOSE... Twice as deadly as ASPIRIN. Not addictive, just poisonous. Makes a very nervous stomach for those who have eating problems and heartburn. Have fun, drink till its gone, then enjoy the clean kidneys, liver, blood, clear head and deep sleep.
Live free, GP